Introduction

This modern 4-bedroom townhouse with open plan living and dining is located in a leafy village in Berkshire. The Entrance Hall & Cloakroom are located at the front of the property on the ground floor.

The current owners bought the house, brand new, 5 years ago and now live there with their two children. Now that the children are a little bit older it has become apparent that the house is no longer working as well as it should for the family.

With this in mind the owners contacted Langdon-Hyde Interior Design to help resolve some of the functional issues as well as to advise on the decoration.

The ground floor living area layout and storage had been highlighted as an immediate problem along with the guest accommodation. Once the design was completed for these two areas I moved on to the design of the Entrance Hall & Cloakroom.

The over-riding goal for this project was to create a ‘grown-up’ home whilst still providing a ‘tweenager’ friendly environment.

SPECIFICS

to create more storage and improve on current storage
to review existing furniture with regards to its functionality and arrangement
to review existing decoration and consider how this might be improved

Entrance Hall & Cloakroom

Located on the ground floor at the front of the house the Entrance Hall and Cloakroom were decorated in a neutral paint tone. Whilst in good decorative order the clients wanted to declutter these areas and create more storage. They were particularly keen to utilise the coat cupboard (seen here on the right hand side of the first image) to its full height. With advice from a preferred tradesperson it was agreed that this idea was feasible but it caused me concern with regards to finding an exact match to the other doors in the hallway.

Entrance Hall

Design Concept For Entrance Hall

The lifestyle image below was presented to the client to illustrate how the use of tongue and groove panelling might be used to incorporate a pair of ‘secret’ doors opening on to the anticipated taller cupboard. The image struck such a chord with the client that it was decided this colour scheme should be adopted for the Entrance Hall. By using tongue and groove panelling throughout this space it enabled me to open up the space under the stairs for pull-out shoe storage neatly hidden behind more secret openings.

With the finishes decided I felt the need to make the design my own. Leaning into the blue and white checkerboard patterned cushion I sourced a tile in a navy and white colourway to decorate the bespoke console table included in my scheme. The ceramic stool would also complement the space and could be used as a place to tie shoes or to scribble a quick note.

Floor Plan Of Entrance Hall

A measured survey was carried out and an accurate floor plan drawn using C.A.D. software.

Colour Palette & Key Purchases For Hall

Proposed Coat Cupboard Internal Layout

Client Presentation of the Entrance Hall

A colour rendered floor plan and 3D model were produced to demonstrate how the bespoke panelling would be applied to dado rail height and form full height doors for the coat cupboard. The electrical sockets, radiators, windows and doors were all taken into consideration when creating the scheme.

The coat cupboard was modelled using SketchUp Pro illustrating how the top shelf would be raised, an additional hanging rail added and a series of shelves incorporated. The design took into consideration the various pieces of electrical equipment that were present in the existing cupboard layout.

Top View Of The Entrance Hall

Cloakroom

Design Concept For Cloakroom

Floor Plan Of Cloakroom

A measured survey was carried out and an accurate floor plan drawn using C.A.D. software

Client Presentation of the Cloakroom

I proposed a grey, green and sliver Hornbeam patterned wallpaper for the plain white walls and recommended painting the woodwork, ie. door, door frame, and architrave, in a white eggshell finish. The addition of either a bespoke, or off-the shelf, under-sink cabinet, would provide storage for loo rolls, cleaning products, etc. The white porcelain sanitaryware was modern and in good condition so no changes were proposed.

Summary

A time scale of 3 weeks was allocated to complete the design element of this project.

My Services

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Useful Links

Internal

EXTERNAL

Farrow & Ball; paint and wallpaper for both rooms
OKA; ceramic stool in entrance hall